In 2022, we gained unprecedented state support for the Rhode Island Local Agriculture and Seafood Act Grant Program. We fought successfully for the passage of a Cottage Food Law allowing residents to legally sell homemade baked goods. We fought for our state’s critical farmland protection programs and advocated for important changes to make it easier for older Rhode Islanders to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Our seminal report on Policy Recommendations for Rhode Island’s Food System: 2023-2030 lays out top priorities for achieving a just and resilient food system in the state, and exhorts state officials to lead on these issues. We helped dozens of farms, fishers, and food businesses to apply for state and Federal funding, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing into this critical economic sector. And we built on our wins for food equity when we led development of the state’s first Environmental, Sustainability, and Management Associate Degree at the Community College of Rhode Island, which launched this past August. These victories benefit all Rhode Islanders, and they help make our state a national leader in supporting small and beginning farmers and fishers, cultivating underserved food entrepreneurs, and integrating food systems priorities into long-range climate policy and state plans. In 2023, we will leverage this momentum to further our strategic objectives to:

• Increase food access, security, justice, and sovereignty for marginalized Rhode Islanders by coordinating and advocating for changes that enable all people to eat healthy, nutritious, culturally and religiously appropriate food of their own choice, regardless of zip code.
• Support the economic strength and resilience of RI food businesses, especially those that have been historically under-served and/or under-resourced.
• Create, contribute to, and advocate for policy that integrates climate, justice, environment, and food recovery in a way that centers social responsibility and economic equity at the municipal, state and Federal levels.
• Provide leadership, resources, and direction to state food system planning and policymaking in alignment with RIFPC’s commitment to equity.
• Empower the network – current Council, Council alumni, and the broader network – to build community power and affect positive change in alignment with our mission

Our network has proven time and time again that real change is possible and in fact inevitable when we work together toward a common goal of a just and resilient food system. Sincerely, Nessa Richman Network Director